The Scientist
by MissMune
Summary: Threeshot. Three brief windows into Membrane's family life.
1. Dib

A/N: So, this is a three shot I wrote, revolving around the Membrane family. Although, as you'll no doubt notice, I never once refer to Membrane as such. He's not 'Professor Membrane' yet in the timeline, so he's simply called 'the scientist' the majority of the time.

This was inspired by listening to 'The Scientist' one too many times… aw, heck, I can NEVER get sick of that song, who am I kidding?

Hope you enjoy!

--

It was abnormally warm and sunny that day, the day of her funeral, and there was a gentle wind blowing through the cemetery trees. The ceremony had ended, and the people who had come to pay their respects had already left. It was near sundown, and yet one man was still standing next to her. Or, her grave stone, at least.

He had barely moved at all since he had arrived much earlier in the day. Even now that night was falling, the scientist seemed to have no intentions of leaving. His normally goggled eyes fixed upon the hard marble of the stone before him. He had read the inscribed name more times than he cared to count:

_Alumina Page-Tabor_

It was a name he was used to seeing in papers, having discovered something wonderful; or displayed on his cell phone; or… on their wedding certificate. Her name was something he saw in his daily life often, and now this would be the only place her name would be assured.

Perhaps she would be in the obituaries of the paper, but if she was in there for any reason it wouldn't be because of her scientific achievements.

In fact, the man doubted that there would be any more news on her; the last news article to bear her name read:

_Scientist Killed in Lab Accident, Questions on Safety Raised_

_Well, those concerns had come a bit too late, hadn't they?_ The man thought with a blank expression; it was the same expression he had worn the entire day. He had not managed to cry, still not able to fully accept that his wife was gone and would never be coming back.

The scientist swallowed, and his mouth ticked at its corner as though it wanted to frown. It didn't, however, and the man instead placed his hand a top of the tomb stone. Cold greeted his, for once, ungloved hand. He made no move to pull away.

Sucking in a deep breath, the man all at once began to consider what this meant. What this hard slab of stone meant. Of course, he knew. He knew from the moment he had gotten the call from the lab where they both worked. Yet, he had found it too painful to dwell on… far too painful.

This meant that… that he would never be able to see her face again. That she would never be able to do all of those things she wanted to do for humanity… And that they would never be able to start a family.

That thought sent a wave a tension throughout his body, but it only caused his grip to tighten upon the immovable stone.

"Dib," the word escaped from his mouth in little more than a hiss. That name… it had sounded so silly at the time. …It hadn't even been more than two weeks ago, today.

"_So, what if I _am_ pregnant?" came the question from a woman in a lab coat. She had a pretty face, framed by light purple hair that fell blandly behind her. She had a slight smirk on her face, which could just be seen above her coat. Her eyes were covered completely by bluish goggles, but the man she was addressing knew full well that there was a coy expression beneath them. _

"Are_ you?" he questioned, barely looking up from his work, attempting not to look fazed. But she knew better than that. _

"_And what if I _aaaaam_?" the woman repeated, poking the man in the chest with a probe she had been using to dissect something slimy. _

_Frowning slightly as he was poked, the man finally looked away from the experiment that he was working on. His brow was quirked slightly, as though wondering why she was bringing this up at this exact moment. "Then… I suppose we would have to NAME_ _him!" he exclaimed. _

"_Oh, so it's automatically a _him_, huh?" the woman questioned, pretending to be offended as she crossed her arms. _

"_OR her," he added quickly, but it was too late. _

"_No, no, it's a him," she insisted, waggling a finger at him, "And I get to name him."_

_"But…" the scientist began to protest, beginning to think that he had been tricked, somehow. _

"_Now, now, it's only fair," she responded, twirling the probe in her gloved hand, "I get to name him if he's a boy, and if he's a girl than you get to name him." She explained, grinning as she drew to a close, knowing full well that the latter part of her sentence made no sense. _

_Somewhat amused by this point, the man gave a slight nod before returning to his work. "And just what would you NAME him_?"

_At this question, the woman grinned strangely. "Oh, I don't know," she said in a half giggle, "Something unique. Something nobody else is named." _

"_His name _is_ going to be a _name_, though, isn't it?" the man asked warily, not quite sure what ridiculous word his wife may have cooked up for their potential son. _

_The laughter that was her reply did nothing to quell his fears. "Well, actually…"_

_"It's not going to be something SILLY like… like…" the scientist stammered, moving his arm about to illustrate how silly something may be._

_"Dib?"_

"_Yes, like _Dib_," he agreed, muscles relaxing before realization set in. "_Dib_? How'd you come up with_ that_?" _

_His wife snorted at his reaction, having completely forgotten about the work set before her. "You know those ice cream commercials?" she asked through a smile. _

"_You want to name our son after an _ice cream_ product?!" _

"_You don't think it's cute?" she inquired innocuously, making a pouty face at her husband. _

_The man blinked, although it was impossible to tell underneath his goggles. "Well, cute or not, it's not really a SCIENTIFIC name," he countered, although he was slightly confused by this entire conversation. _

_The woman scoffed, placing a hand on her hip. "Oh, and I suppose _you'd_ name our _daughter_ something like… Plasma or… Liquid? Or maybe Gas?" she suggested, "Those would _all_ be great names, wouldn't they?" _

"_Don't be ridiculous," the scientist shooed the suggestions away, "I'd never name my daughter something like Liquid or Gas," he paused, thinking, "MAYBE_ _Plasma." This received another snigger from his wife, much to his chagrin. "But we're not being _serious_ about this, are we?" _

"_And what if we are?" she answered slyly, raising one of her thin eyebrows. _

"Dib," he repeated the name, as though testing it out. He had never really found out if she was serious about the whole thing or not, but, somehow, it didn't even matter if she was.

The wind was picking up now, cutting through his suit as though it were paper. A chill shot up his spine, but he did not remove his hand from the stone, where it still rested. Somehow he thought the shiver appropriate, for what he was considering: genetic engineering.

It presented some very large moral qualms, after all. …None of which he cared about.

"So, Dib, then," he conceded to the grave before him, "Our son's name will be Dib."

--

A/N: Nyeheh, yes… I thought I would have more to say about this… but I don't really. Nothing that important, anyway.

Well, except that Membrane's _real_ last name, Tabor, was unwittingly inspired by a local doctor in my area, with all of his _lasik eye surgery_ commercials.

On to part twoooooo


	2. Gaz

A/N: So, part two. This is the longest part of the threeshot by far… and it's also my least favorite! Mainly because I detest the OC in this… for reasons that should be completely apparent… and I kind of feel… well…_ bad_ for even thinking her up.

Anyhoo, toddler!Dib is also pretty… uh… language proficient and coordinated for his age. _Unnaturally_ so but… eh, he's an advanced child? And… you know, he's bio engineered and stuff so… give me a break, eh?

Hope you enjoy.

--

The head stone had changed little in the year that had since past. The harsh weather they had experienced had done nothing to erode the finely crafted marble; it was just as smooth as ever, the words just as readable.

And, once again, that day was beautiful; sun warming the parts of the scientist's skin that were still visible through his large lab coat. Clouds were lazily drifting through the sky, occasionally covering up the sun, causing a sharp temperature drop.

"Clouds!" the boy in his arms unexpectedly exclaimed, pointing upwards with one of his tiny hands. It was ten months ago that he was born, if it could be called that, and had already begun to speak a month ago. He was a bright boy, Dib.

"Yes, cumulus clouds," the scientist confirmed, making the boy clap happily at being correct, but he did not share his son's happiness. Although he was proud of his boy – _their_ boy - it was hard to feel happy when he looked upon her name.

"Dad?" the boy asked curiously, glancing between his father and what appeared to be nothing more than a rock to him.

"That's your mother," the scientist responded simply, but this only seemed to confuse the child more. Not old enough to put his confusion into words, however, he remained silent as his father simply stared at the object before them.

Eventually, though, the scientist knew that Dib would be able to question him on the subject of his parentage. He wouldn't hide his mother from him, but the boy would no doubt notice that he was born _after_ his mother had already passed away. There was no way around it, and it would have to be addressed eventually.

He was not looking forward to that day.

"Excuse me," a voice said from behind him, causing the man to twitch ever so slightly. With a bemused expression, he glanced at whoever had spoken from the corner of his eye. Underneath his goggles, his eyes widened.

It had been a woman who had spoken; that wasn't remarkable, in of itself. But… she looked so much like _her_. Still, there _were _differences. This woman's hair was a darker color, curved at the corners and her face was much sharper than hers had been.

Not receiving a response, the woman frowned, "I couldn't help but notice that you come here every month," she explained lightly, before adding quickly, "My husband died recently, you see."

"Yes, I see," the scientist answered cautiously.

"Oh, is this your son?" she abruptly changed the subject, strategically choosing to 'notice' Dib at that moment. The scientist didn't seem privy to her tactics, however, and nodded at the question.

"This is our son, Dib," he answered, eyes flickering toward the head stone. "Say, 'hello', Dib."

"…Hi…" Dib muttered, scooching farther back into his father's grip, as though he didn't want to be anywhere near this woman.

"Well, hello there, _Dib_," the woman greeted the boy with saccharine sweetness, before her eyes shifted back toward the scientist. "My name is Saline, may I ask yours?" He wasn't given a chance to respond, however, as the woman glanced at the tombstone.

"Oh," she said, "Tabor? You must be that famous scientist I'm always seeing in the papers." Saline smiled, "You know, I've always been interested in science…"

--

Saline was quite a woman. She would always know what to say, and how to act, and exactly how to get her way. And she did. Only a few months later did she become the second Mrs. Tabor, his second wife.

Now, although he was a smart man, the scientist was never a very good judge of character. If he was, then perhaps he would have never married her. Or maybe he was still too distraught from the death of his first wife. Either way, they were wed.

And it wasn't too much later that they had a child, a girl. Kindly, Saline had insisted that _he_ name her. Her reaction was the first indication of trouble.

"_Gaz?_" she had scoffed, "What kind of name is _that_?" Her eyes narrowed briefly, before widening again. "I mean, why do you want to name her _that_, honey?" she questioned in a far more delicate tone.

"My wife and I agreed on it," the scientist retorted, although they hadn't exactly done that. Nevertheless, he was certain that _she_ would have found the name 'Gaz' extremely amusing.

_Scientific enough for you?_ He could practically hear her asking.

"Well, _I'm_ your wife, _now_," Saline reminded him darkly, but only received a questioning look in return. "And… it's a… _wonderful_ name," she finished through gritted teeth.

Whether or not she found the name to be wonderful, the scientist would have insisted upon it, anyway. Thankfully, there was not much argument about it and things had gone smoothly enough for his taste.

However, Saline's reaction to their child was less than overwhelming, and she barely seemed to care that the girl existed. But _he_ was happy with his daughter's existence, at least, smiling down on her as he tucked her into her crib for the first time. Normally he wouldn't be able to bother with something so trivial and would have entrusted that duty to the nanny he had hired, or even Saline.

Beside him, the now two year old Dib stood on his tip-toes to get a glimpse of his little sister. "Hi, Gaz," he whispered, watching the baby squirm as his father wrapped blankets around her, "I'm your big brother, Dib."

"Hurry up!" the woman of the house called impatiently from outside of the room.

"Don't you want to say goodnight to your daughter?" the scientist called back in a half whisper, not wanting to disturb the baby as she slipped off into a sleep.

"Not really," Saline sniffed indignantly, lowly enough so that he couldn't make out what she was saying. This was abruptly amended, "_Of course_," she replied cloyingly before gliding into the room to hover above her daughter. Dib instinctively backed away as she drew closer.

"Goodnight, _Gaz_," she hissed, jabbing her hands under the blankets roughly in an attempt to tuck the girl in. It only seemed to hurt the baby, however, and she let out a sort of whimper.

"Now, _I'm_ going to bed," she announced, giving a nasty sort of sideways glance at the children before looking at her husband, "Are you coming with me?"

"Yes, in a moment," he agreed, not noticing the scowl that had grown on her face from his words as she shuffled out of the room. "It's time for BED, son," he informed the boy, patting him on the shoulder before moving to follow his wife.

"Aw, okay," Dib said, sounding disappointed as he made to follow his father out of the room. He paused out in front of Gaz's crib, however, satisfied that their father was out of ear shot. "Don't worry," he breathed, "She's scary monster, but I won't let her get you."

"_Son_?"

Head jerking toward the sound, Dib gave one last look at his sister before running out of her room.

--

As the weeks since Gaz's birth drew into months, the scientist began to spend less and less time at home. It wasn't because he didn't want to be home, spending quality time with his children. And it wasn't that he didn't want to see his wife… no, it _surely _wasn't that.

No, he was just too _busy_. As of late his achievements had been garnering more attention, and to live up to the expectations of others, he had buried himself in his work. He was barely even sleeping at this point.

So it _must_ have been lack of sleep that was driving him when he asked Saline to watch the children, that night. The nanny had called in sick; something was going around. Maybe he would work on a cure for that, next.

And if _that_ hadn't been the lack of sleep, it must have been lack of sleep that allowed him to ignore her growl of a response. "Take _care_ of those two sniveling-" she had begun, but was cut off as the scientist kissed her forehead automatically and left with only a quick 'thank you.'

The majority of the day had gone alright after that. Dib managed to keep to himself, although he generally avoided Saline altogether. Occasionally he would pass by Gaz's room, to make sure his surrogate mother hadn't eaten her.

As the sun began to set, however, Dib realized that something was wrong. He hadn't even had lunch and now it was nearly dinner time. His stomach was growling, and his could hear Gaz crying from within her crib. It _couldn't_ be good for babies that small not to eat.

Not wanting to talk to Saline, Dib instead searched all over the house for the nanny that was usually there. _She_ was nice and she didn't yell at him when he asked her a question. After several minutes of this, the boy finally decided to give it up. He would _have_ to talk to that scary lady… even if she was probably the one that had made the nanny disappear.

"Mrs. Saline?" Dib asked quietly, approaching the woman. She was leaned back into their sofa, eating chocolate and watching a show where people attacked each other with their faces.

"_What is it_?" she spat, as though this boy was something that tasted foul. She didn't seem to mind that the boy hadn't called her 'mom'. She _wasn't_ his mother, and was_ glad_ she wasn't actually related to him.

At the loudness of her voice, Dib withdrew somewhat, before managing to steady himself. "Well, it's almost dinner and the nanny's not here…." He trailed off, staring up at the woman with wide, glasses-covered eyes.

The only response Saline gave was a malice-filled glare.

"Um… Gaz is crying… and I'm real hungry…" Dib continued in a voice that grew progressively quieter. His own need was so quiet that it was doubtful that she heard it.

"Then tell her to shut up," Saline answered carelessly, waving her hand as to brush the boy away.

"But…"

"You'll _do_ what I tell you," the woman snarled, and Dib took a step back, now looking terrified. "Now, go tell _your_ sister to stop being such a _baby_."

Not bothering to protest that Gaz was, in fact, a baby, Dib fled from the horrible monster woman as fast as he could. Quaking as he opened the door to his little sister's room, he slammed the door behind him.

Now that he was in the room again, Gaz's cries were louder. Still looking aghast, Dib walked up to his sister's crib. He was a little taller now, though, and didn't need to stand on his tip-toes. Normally this thought would have made him smile, but not today.

"Shh, Gaz," Dib shushed, trying to pacify his sister to no avail. Her wails only grew louder as she flailed about in her bed sheets. "Please, Gaz, she's scary," he whispered, grabbing hold of the bars that separated them.

Realizing that his little sister was not about to be quieted, Dib took a look around the room. Spotting what he was looking for, he dragged it awkwardly over to the crib. It was a baby stroller and it was much taller than he.

With a worried look on his features, Dib somehow managed to pull one side of the crib down. "Shh, Gaz, shh," he insisted, pointing to the stroller. Somehow the girl seemed to understand what her brother was saying, for she grew silent, crawling over toward the edge.

Wobbling on the side of the crib, Gaz finally fell over into the stroller, nearly falling off onto the floor in the process. Dib quickly reached out and pushed her back into the seat. Breathing a sigh of relief, he clipped his sister in.

Now came the hard part.

Carefully, Dib opened the door, standing on the very tip of his toes to just barely turn the knob with the ends of his fingers. It creped open, and the boy pulled it farther agape. Slowly, he began to push the stroller into the hallway, checking both sides of him to make sure that the horrible woman hadn't seen him.

Satisfied that she hadn't, Dib began the arduous task of getting the unwieldy object down the stairs. Putting all of his weight into keeping the wheeled carrier from slipping and tumbling down the stairs, he began to descend, one step at a time.

Somehow, Dib didn't know how, but he made it. Allowing himself a small, childish grin, he glanced down at Gaz. She was still being silent, but was looking expectant.

Smile fast fading, the boy took a few steps away from the stroller. Looking all around the living room, he was relieved to see that monster lady was still watching the television. Taking a deep breath, he began to inch Gaz toward the kitchen, hoping that something loud in the television wouldn't set her off crying.

"_What are you doing_?!" Saline abruptly screeched, making Dib nearly jump out of his skin. Heart beating almost painfully hard, he turned around to explain but found that she was still staring at the television.

"Why'd you turn him down, you idiot?! He's _rich_!" she yelled, chucking one of her chocolates at the actress on screen.

Dib released a breath he hadn't even known that he had been holding. Not wasting any more time in the living room, he scampered into the kitchen. Skidding somewhat as carpet gave way to linoleum, he struggled to stop Gaz's stroller.

"Hmm-_mmm_," Gaz whined, making grabby motions at the high chair that she was accustomed to sitting in.

"No, Gaz," Dib whispered, "That's too tall." He furrowed his brow as he glanced up at the chair, before shaking his head. It would be hard enough to get to the food cabinets; there was no way he would be able to get Gaz into that thing.

How _was_ he going to get to the cabinets, anyway?

Gaze flickering about the room, the boy's eyes eventually fell upon the regular chairs, the ones that his father and… _that lady_ used. Bracing himself, he pushed up against one of them as hard as he could. It made a horribly loud scraping sound. He stopped immediately, glancing out toward the living room.

It didn't seem as though Saline had noticed.

Satisfied that it was alright to continue, Dib continued to scoot the chair over to the counter. Not realizing how far he had went, he gasped when he felt it could go no further. "Oh," he breathed, relaxing as he realized he had simply hit the counter.

Taking another suspicious look around the kitchen, Dib began to climb up onto the chair, wobbling dangerously at first. Grabbing the back of the chair to steady himself, he continued to carefully crawl up onto the countertop.

Shaking lightly, he shuffled carefully over to the cabinets. The cabinets jutted out just above the counter, leaving only a small edge that Dib could stand on. Cautiously, he began to pull out the materials he would need for their dinners.

He only seemed to finish after an eternity of precariously balancing on the side of the counter, and rushed down with his spoils as quickly as he possibly could; only pausing on the chair to pull out some silverware.

Breathing deeply and trying to steady his legs, which now felt like jelly, the boy made his way back to his sister. "Dinner," he said, holding up a cereal box.

--

It was much later when the scientist returned, looking tired and unfocused. Instantly, his attention was drawn to his wife, sitting on the couch still watching the television. "How are the_ children_?" he inquired.

"Who?" Saline replied without interest, not even looking up at her husband. "Oh, oh, yeah, they're fine," she added, "I think they're in bed." At this, she yawned, stretched, and pressed the power button. "Are _you _coming to bed?" she questioned harshly, tone implying that he had _better_ be.

"In a moment, honey. I have to get _changed_!" he exclaimed, kissing her on the cheek before rushing upstairs. She soon followed, shutting off the living room light behind her.

Still inside the kitchen, Dib frowned as the living room light was turned off. "Dad?" he asked timidly, sticking his out of the opening between the two rooms. He couldn't see anything through the blackness.

Getting no response, Dib stepped back into the kitchen, where cereal bits were scattered messily about. The siblings had both long since finished, but an unforeseen circumstance had arisen: Dib hadn't been able to push the stroller back up the stairs. Having nowhere to go, he had returned to the kitchen to wait for his father, who, even now, was nowhere in sight.

Appearing somewhat afraid, Dib pushed the stroller into the inky dark of the living room. He was defensive, seeming to think that something would come out of nowhere and attack him. Apprehensively, he stopped in front of the couch. Staring at it briefly, he began to unbuckle Gaz and shove her onto it.

Dib followed, glancing around again, although this time hoping that his father would emerge from the shadows to protect them, and take them up to their rooms. Shifting in his seat, the boy nuzzled in closer to the cushions, shivering slightly as the room temperature began to drop.

"…Goodnight," he whispered.


	3. EVP

A/N: Last part.

I have the least to say about this one… except that its concept was certainly my favorite of the three.

And, also, this fic succeeded in making my beta-reader very sad.

Enjoy.

--

Night had fallen and the chill that had started to come in with fall was particularly strong. The scientist didn't really seemed to notice it, however, as he stepped out of his car. From where he stood, he could see that his house was nearly dark, with only the occasional flicker of the television screen.

No doubt it was Dib watching that strange paranormal program he had taken a liking to. His sudden interest in the supernatural had seemed to come out of nowhere, likely a result of that show, in fact. The boy hadn't watched much television before Saline left, and the scientist had never questioned why; he still didn't.

All he knew was now that she was gone Dib had started to become a bit odd. He could only assume that he was missing his surrogate mother figure, but there was little he could do. One day she had simply left, taking with her all of the money in their bank account and various schematics and ideas he had written down.

It wasn't too much later that he received the divorce papers in the mail.

They had surprised him a bit; he had barely even realized his wife was no longer around. However, he also wasn't very bothered by the papers and signed them without a second thought, only briefly stopping to wonder if, perhaps, he was growing too detached from his family.

Exhaling heavily, the scientist shook his head and entered the threshold of his home.

Over on the couch, Dib, now nearly four years old, shifted his gaze toward his father. "Hi, dad!" he greeted excitedly, eyes flickering back to the television screen. "I'm watching Mysterious Mysteries of Mysterious Mystery!" he declared proudly.

"Yes, son," he said dismissively, walking past the back of the couch and heading toward the kitchen. That show was nonsense and he probably should have forbidden Dib from watching it, but he was hoping that it was just a phase.

The lackluster response he had received made Dib droop visibly, frowning at the screen where before he was smiling. He squirmed slightly in his seat, as though he was wondering if he should have been there at all.

"Well, my-my wife had died a-about… a year ago and I-I kind of felt like I wouldn't be able to go on without telling her goodbye," a man on the television stammered, looking nervous and somewhat distraught.

The scientist paused, quirking his brow as he listened to the program in the background. He didn't look up at the screen, but he didn't continue his trek toward the kitchen, either.

"Yes, she was in a car accident and died before you could get to the hospital," the host explained, no doubt simply information for the audience at home.

"Ye-yeah, that's right…" the man mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"So, what did you do?" the host inquired, holding up a microphone to the timid man's face.

At this, the scientist's interest was piqued. With a bemused expression, thinking of how silly he was being, he chanced a glance at the program.

"Well, I set out this voice recorder," he said, holding up a simple tape recorder. "And I asked some questions."

"Yes, and you got an EVP from your departed wife?" the host asked the man, before focusing his gaze back onto the camera. "'EVP' stands for Electronic Voice Phenomena, hearing strange things on a tape that were not there when you recorded it."

"I did, this is what I got," he said with a nod, pressing 'play' on his recorder. What followed were a few questions from the man, with no response. This was almost a relief to the scientist, who had slowly migrated right toward the edge of the couch.

"_I'm so sorry I didn't get to say goodbye,"_ the man on the tape lamented. There was silence afterwards, but then there was something that could just be barely made out, grainy and distorted in a way.

"_Don't be._"

The words caused the scientist's eyes to widen underneath his goggles. Normally he would have simply shooed the words away as some malfunction within the device, itself, but for some reason he was quite shocked with the results.

And now he was considering something foolish.

"Dad?" Dib questioned, apparently just now noticing that his father was hovering around the back of the couch. "Were you watching this?" He smiled lightly at the idea.

He coughed at this, appearing almost embarrassed at being found out. "P-perhaps," he answered, at a rare loss for words.

"Hey, you wanna try that so we can talk to mom?" the boy asked, trying not to sound too eager in case that made his father say 'no'.

For a long while, the scientist said nothing. He merely stood there, staring at the television with confusion and apprehension. This was silly; he _knew_ that it was silly. There was no such thing as ghosts, every logical person knew this.

And yet…

"Alright, son," he agreed, simply because this was _Dib's_ idea. It wasn't _his_ and he wouldn't have done it otherwise and maybe once they didn't succeed it would turn Did off of the paranormal for good.

After a quick trip up stairs to retrieve a recorder, he had settled down onto the couch next to Dib. The television was already turned off, light now being given by a small desk lamp on the side table beside the couch.

"You ready, dad?" Dib asked, eyes shimmering with childish anticipation.

With a curt nod, the scientist pressed the 'record' button. "Hello? …Are you here?" He paused afterward, giving time for something to answer… which, of course, it wouldn't. A few more questions followed, basic ones which he figured needed to be asked such as: "Are you my wife?"

He had refrained from inserting anything emotional into the questions, and had not made any side comments at all. Finally, he asked his last question and hit 'stop'. Eyes focused unwaveringly on the recorder, he rewound it.

It made a high pitched whizzing sound before it clicked. Now it was time to see the results… it was just like any other experiment, he supposed.

_"Hello? Are you here?"_ the recorder asked.

…Silence. Nothing but silence.

"_Are you my wife_?"

…More silence. And this became a pattern. After each question there was only silence. There was no noise at all.

Before it was even done, he had to leave. He sighed and left the recorder playing next to the still present Dib. Clearly disappointed, he slowly made his way into the kitchen. He suddenly felt very tired and began to make himself a pot of coffee, standing by the machine as it hummed away.

Yes, it had been ridiculous to think that he would ever hear her voice again. Even once more… It had been nonsense. All of it was nonsense, the supernatural. He shook his head. His boy would grow out of it, right?

There was an unexpected pulling on his lab coat. Blinking, he looked downward; it was only Dib.

"Dad," he said, nearly jumping up and down with glee, "You really need to come out here and listen because I -"

"Yes, that's nice, son," he sighed, patting the child on the shoulder and giving him a gentle nudge on the back to signify that he didn't want to be bothered.

Frowning, Dib seemed somewhat dejected as he reentered the living room. Carefully, he climbed back onto the couch and picked up the recorder, pressing the 'rewind' button. He stopped it at a particular place, the last question.

"_Do you have anything to say to us_?" his father on the tape asked and, at first, it seemed as though it would be like all the others, with no response but then something just audible rasped from the recorder:

"_I love you." _


End file.
